by J. L. Drake
“I walked you to your first class.” I grinned, loving that he missed me.
“That was five hours ago. That’s a lifetime to me.” He tugged me toward our favorite spot under the tree next to the coffee cart where I found my brother Angelo waiting.
“Hey,” he jumped to his feet, excited, “how’s my favorite sister?”
“I’m your only sister.” I gave him a hug. “What are you doing here? Does Papa know you’re not in the office?”
“Yes and no. I kind of told him I had a doctor’s appointment and a few errands to run before he and Mama arrive tomorrow.” We both made a face. Our parents were so old fashioned and kept us on a short leash. “I wanted you to hear it from me first, but I’ve met someone.”
“Oh?” I pulled him down on the blanket. We sat in a circle as I pulled out the sandwiches I had made and shared them. “Tell us all about her. How did you meet?”
“She actually chased me.” He chuckled and selected a carrot from the container. “She kept coming into the office on days I worked, selling things she made. She got to know that I loved her butter tarts. She was persistent, and apparently that’s a major turn-on for me.”
“Good to know your turn-ons,” Francesco said through a mouthful of sandwich, and I smirked at his comment. The three of us were very close, so the idea that my baby brother had found someone who was just as interested in him as he was in her was pretty great. Besides, having another girl around would be a refreshing change.
“When do we get to meet her?”
“Soon, I hope, but can I ask you for a favor?”
“Of course.” I would do anything for Angelo.
“Can both of you be there when she meets our parents tomorrow night?” He made a face as both of ours dropped into grim expressions.
“Look, man,” Francesco brushed his hands free of crumbs, “you know I have your back no matter what, but let’s be honest here. I’m not exactly welcome at your house.”
“Which is total crap,” I added angrily.
“It is, but it doesn’t change anything.” Francesco’s hand landed on mine. “Despite what people think about the Capri family, they’ve done good for Sicily.”
“Screw my parents.” Angelo’s face went red. “You’re a great man who loves my sister, and that should count.”
“It should.” Francesco took my hand and pulled me closer. “But it doesn’t change anything. Your parents made their minds up about the Capris long before they ever met me.” He leaned back and rested his head on the tree trunk. “I’m sure the fact that they met me for the first time with Piero didn’t help.”
“I’m still really sorry about the way they acted.” I lowered my gaze to my hands as I remembered how furious my parents were when we bumped into Piero Capri and Francesco at the shop next door. I was forced to introduce Francesco to them at a less than perfect time. They were very aware of who Francesco was with, and being in the insurance business, they were very aware of the crime that surrounded us. They forbid me to ever see Francesco again. Of course, I couldn’t stay away from him. I was madly in love, and we were now desperately trying to figure out what our next move was going to be.
“Fine, then. I get it.” My brother let it go. He knew there was no way Francesco could be there. “But you’ll come, right?” His eyes pleaded at me.
“You, in the hot seat with a girl, meeting our parents for the first time.” I laughed. “You couldn’t pay me to miss that.”
If only I had known the storm I would walk into when I arrived that night.
The sudden feeling of not being alone drew me from my memory.
“How long do you plan on watching me?” I asked without turning around. I felt the vibration as he pushed off the frame of the French doors and stepped out onto the hotel balcony with me.
“You always had a sixth sense when I was around.” He took a seat next to me and rested his ankle across his thigh. “What were you thinking about just then?”
“Angelo.” I flinched as I said his name, still feeling the sorrow that nipped at my core. “I miss him so much.”
“Me too.” He shifted and dropped his foot.
“Do you?” I murmured a challenge and stared directly into his eyes.
“Don’t.” He bit back a warning for me not to go there. It was the one topic we ran in circles with each other and had never come to see eye to eye on. It was the one topic that had nearly finished us many years ago. Only our strong love for one another held us together then, but, sadly, even it had run out along our painful path. He took a deep breath and changed the subject.
“I wanted to check in and see how you were after…last night. I saw that exchange with Noemi Capri.” The hairs on my arms stood when he said that Noemi was a Capri. The words started to come, but I locked my jaw, unsure I could trust him not to shut this entire thing down when he found out the truth.
“Don’t you do background checks on everyone?”
“Yes, and she had nothing to show.”
“Neither did someone else we know,” I countered then shifted my gaze off him. “We had a few run ins before. It’s nothing that important.” I waved it off.
“All right, Elenora, I’ll leave it for now.” He cleared his throat and waited a beat. “What do you have planned for today?”
“Well, I’m stuck in this hotel until I figure out what my next move is.”
“It’s not so bad.” He shrugged, and I ignored his comment. I was used to something much better, and I wanted it back.
“Have you spoken to Sienna since the party?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s always surrounded by them.” I tasted the hate on my tongue and let the comment linger in the air.
Francesco leaned forward and rubbed his face. “You’re back, Elenora, only you can choose what that means for her.”
“I planned on reaching out to her today.”
“Good.” He stood and checked his phone.
“Do me a favor and call off the watchdogs.”
“Elenora.” He leaned down low, bending at the waist, and placed his hands on the armrests of my chair. “My patience with your attitude will only fly for so long.” His eyes widened, and it took me back to the days when he would put me in my place because I went too far. “You’ll be kind to those who looked after her when you weren’t around. You have a second chance here to make things right.” He shook his head as I tried to cut in. “You will not hurt my young girl, or you will have to answer to me.”
“Are you quite finished?”
He waited a beat then slowly rose and left me alone with a racing heart.
Seriously? I sent another text to Mariano. For about the sixth time.
Sienna: Like I said, I can’t come today.
My heels clicked on the floor as I raced into the kitchen and found Donte working with some fresh herbs. We had become fast friends, and I really enjoyed watching him whip up delicious things to eat.
“Morning.” I took a moment to inhale the heavenly scent of whatever he was working on today. “Have you seen Elio? It’s been nearly two days since I’ve heard from him.” I was starting to get worried, as he and Piero had disappeared without a word. Even Niccola seemed to be absent. I thought I had heard his voice yesterday but couldn’t confirm it. I knew Andrea was off visiting her sick cousin. It was crazy quiet in the house.
“No, sorry, but Mr. Vinni raced by here not that long ago. He might know where he is.”
“Oh, yeah?” I turned and headed to see if he was out by the pool, but there was no sign of him.
Mariano: I’m heading up your way.
“No, no, no!”
I rushed back inside. “Donte, I’m not sure what to do here.”
“What’s wrong?” He wiped the herbs off the counter with a cloth as I panicked, not sure what I was allowed to share with him.
“Can you pretend that I have to stay home today? Mariano wants to take me out, and, well…”
“Not a problem.” He raised a hand, and I was pleased he didn’t make me have to explain further.
“There’s my girl!” Mariano boomed through the front door as a few of the female kitchen staff bolted for the pantry.
Lucky.
“Mariano.” I slapped on a fake smile and shook my head at him. “As I told you earlier, I’m not able to get away today.”
“I don’t take the word ‘no’ very well.” He winked and hopped up on the counter right in Donte’s way. “And I’ve been patient with you moving in here and me not seeing you as much, but all things must come to an end. So here I am, not taking no from you.”
Here we go again, that balance where I shouldn’t be going off alone with him, yet I need to act normal with him at the same time.
“Mr. DeSimone,” Donte stepped in, “The Don had asked Ms. Sienna to stay home today and help him with a few things.”
It took me a moment to remember that Don was a name for Piero.
“I’m sure he did.” He waved off Donte’s comment like it was a joke and went for my hand. “Come on, we have to make one stop along the way, but then we’ll have some fun.”
I scrambled for something. “Let me grab my purse.”
Once in the study, I scribbled on a notepad what was going on, folded it in half, and headed for the kitchen, handing Donte the note. “Can you give this to Elio, Vinni, or Niccola?”
“Of course. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” I shook my head, “I just want them to know this wasn’t my decision.”
“Oh, trust me, I’ll tell them what happened.”
“Thanks.”
Mariano jumped in the car, and I barely had my safety belt fastened when he slammed the car into drive and took off down the winding road.
“Listen, Sienna. I try not to take you leaving me to live up in the Hill House too personally, but I’m starting to think you might be tired of me.” Wow, so we’re jumping right into it, are we? “I felt a little better when you joined me and Anna last night, but then you disappeared.”
Stay the same, don’t act like anything has changed, echoed in my head.
“You know, Mariano, you keep asking what it takes to be with me, but you don’t listen,” I shot back, tired of the same conversation. “I’m reserved. I like respect and a little chivalry, but I get none of that from you. You say you want to date me, but in the next moment you have your tongue down Anna’s throat. I don’t drink to get drunk, but you do. You have such tunnel vision of what you want that you can’t see what others might need from you. So, don’t sit here and give me shit about me pulling away. You’ve had chances to change things, but you didn’t take them.”
I took a deep breath in and was shocked at my candor. I pulled out my purse, flipped down the visor, and reapplied my lipstick for something to do.
“Well, that’s a lot to take in.” He chuckled, and I fumed with anger. “Who knew that was inside of you?”
“You do push my buttons.”
“I wonder what else I can do to make you pop off like that.” He poked my arm, and I slammed the visor up with exasperation. He was hopeless. “Well, if you’re finished, I need you to tame the wild horse and come inside.” He parked outside Elio’s aunt’s house. “I have to speak with Elio’s uncle. I won’t be long. He’s a real ass, but what boss isn’t?” He made a face, and I knew he was referring to Elio.
The green vines that hugged the walls moved like a wave in the breeze. The house was a spectacular stone structure with two chimneys on either side. Mariano was already inside by the time I made it up the stairs, leaving me to hover outside the door.
“Are you coming?” he called, and suddenly Aunt Noemi appeared with an annoyed face.
“Hello again, dear.” She waved me in. “I’d apologize for his behavior, but then I’d be apologizing too often.”
“It’s all right.” I laughed, thinking how true that was.
“The boys’ father will only need him for a few moments, so why don’t we sit in the sunroom and enjoy a little girl time?”
I followed her through the long hallway, down two little stairs that led into a pretty river stone room filled with potted flowers. She offered me a drink from a small table designed to comfortably sit three, but I declined. I felt awkward enough at being there unannounced.
“Did you enjoy the party last night?” I fought for something to talk about, but as soon as the words came out of my mouth, flashbacks of the look that had passed between my mother and her hit me hard.
“It was eventful.” She broke off a piece of cookie and popped it in her mouth. “I never stay long at those events, but it was fun to see Vinni let loose a little and have fun.”
I chuckled. “He’s quite the dancer.”
“That’s all his father, Bosco.” She fiddled with the cloth napkin she had pulled onto her lap. “Would you mind maybe spending some time with the poor girl who was found at the dockyard? I’m teaching her Italian, but I think she’s very lonely.”
“Of course, I’d be happy to.” I was pleased she asked. I could only imagine how scary this entire experience had been for her.
“I’ll set something up maybe next week.” She seemed pleased with my answer.
I couldn’t help myself as I felt the probing questions form on the tip of my tongue. “Have you always lived here? It’s gorgeous.”
“Bosco, Vinni and Niccola’s father,” she repeated, reminding me who Bosco was, “was born and raised here. After we met, I moved in, and the rest is history.”
“How did you two meet?” I wondered at her choice of words when she referred to him, as she never said “my husband” very often, if at all.
“It’s no fairytale.” Her smile seemed strained. “Our paths kept crossing, and finally one day he made the move to talk to me, and nine months later Niccola was born.”
“Love at first sight.” I smiled.
“Something like that, yes.” She looked away and dabbed the corner of her eye. “Will you please excuse me, dear?” she apologized. “I will be back in a few moments.”
“Of course.” I stood when she did. I felt completely uncomfortable and now was even more confused. Wrapping my arms around myself, I wandered the room, admiring the different plants and trinkets that were placed here and there. Little ornaments were nestled into the soil or between the pots. The urge to just ask how she knew my mother tugged at me hard. As a journalist, I was never one to beat around the bush, but this was a whole new situation and a very personal one. The painfully careful way my mother imparted such tiny tidbits of information made me tread carefully.
“Well, hello, there.” I spotted something familiar as it glinted in the light. It was buried right to its tiny head. “Don’t you look familiar, little teddy.” I went to brush some soil from it but retracted my hand quickly at a sound. A clinking like someone tapping together two stones became louder as it got closer. It was the same sound I had heard when I was here with Elio.
What is that?
I poked my head out the door and saw nothing, but when I turned back around, I gasped.
“Oh!” A flinch ricocheted through my core. A set of the coldest gray eyes met mine. They were set in a face wrinkled with age. The skin around the eyes creased as if to read my soul. At least that was how it felt. “Hello.” I tried to find my manners. “I’m Sienna, a friend—”
“I know who you are.” The anger in her raspy tone made me step backward, and I hit the doorframe with a thud. “And where you’ve been.” She stuck her finger in my face, and I heard the sound again. It was her rosary beads clinking together. “You can’t be here.”
“I’m-I’m not sure what’s going on here.” I tried to shake the nervous tone from my voice. The woman was terrifying. She looked old, but you could tell from her eyes she was sharp as a tack.
“Leave.” She drew out the word and pointed to the door.
I reached back and flung myself around then raced out of the room and down the hal
lway, the word ‘leave’ still screaming inside my head. I turned as I ran to see if she was watching when I smacked into someone. “Oh!”
Elio grabbed my wrists to steady me and glared.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I—” I stumbled, completely rattled. “Mariano brought me, and—”
“So I heard,” he snapped, and I was confused by his mood.
“I didn’t want to come. I had no—”
“You always have a choice.”
I ripped my arms away, annoyed. “Lovely to see you again.”
“You have no idea what my last forty-eight hours have been like.”
“How could I? You left without saying goodbye and didn’t text or call.”
His angry expression softened when he suddenly looked over my head.
“Nonna,” he brushed by me and leaned in to give her a kiss on both cheeks, “I want you to meet Sienna.”
Oh, sweet Lord, no.
“Hello, child.” She offered me a friendly smile, and all signs of psycho Nonna were gone. “Lovely to meet you.”
What the hell was happening? “Nice to meet you, too.” I think.
“Where are you from, dear?” She waved us to sit down. “I detect a slight accent.”
“She’s from—”
“All over.” I cut Elio off, not wanting her to know.
“Elio?” A man who looked a little younger and wider than Piero stood in the doorway. “Excuse me, but I just need a quick second.”
No, no, no.
“Do me a favor and stay put,” he murmured.
The moment he turned the corner, Nonna glared and leaned forward.
“If you knew what was good for you, you’d pack your bags and leave my family alone. If you don’t,” she pulled herself up to her full height and hissed, “I will get rid of you myself.”
“I think you may have me confused with someone else.”
“No, Sienna Giovanna from Sicily, I certainly do not.” My mouth dropped open while a ton of bricks dropped down on top of me. “She’s quite the beauty, isn’t she?” My head shot back at her sudden change in tone.
“That she is.” Elio still sounded annoyed, so I quickly stood and headed for the door.